by Feng Yue
The examiner paused and humorously said, “I hope you’ve prepared your tuition. The School of Revelation probably spends the most of the royal treasury.”
The red-haired youth froze in shock and joy. Then he raised his fist in excitement and ran out without a farewell. Halfway out, he came back to bow, causing laughter to spread through the examiners.
“He’s still a kid after all,” Ben sighed.
“Next! Ron Furnia…”
—
When the next youth entered the examination hall, the relaxed atmosphere disappeared.
The youth wore faded and threadbare clothes and looked at the examiners anxiously. But the examiners only glanced at the youth’s chest. Seeing no elite heredity, they looked away and did not look back.
It seemed to be the youth’s first time facing something like this. He opened his mouth to speak, but was too nervous to say anything.
Sydney furrowed his brows. He did not even know the basic formalities.
“Sit there and we will test your qualifications.” Ben smiled and pointed at the stone tablet.
When the youth sat down fearfully, the stone remained dark. No patterns were displayed at all. The examiners nodded, looked amongst each other and crossed out his name on their lists.
This test was specially designed to get rid of any commoners who did not have resonance with the aether, and had never received any training.
Ben nodded with a smile, “Ron Furnia, you can go now.”
The youth gaped, not sure what happened. He did not even know what was supposed to be tested. He naively thought it had not started yet.
“I’m sorry to tell you, but you have no talent to become a musician. You can go now,” Ben announced softly, though his face still had a hint of mockery.
“But—but Sir,” Ron could barely speak. “I didn’t even…”
“I said, get out.” Ben’s smile faded and his cold expression stopped Ron’s words, leaving them in his throat. Ben moved on from him and hit the mallet.
“Next!”
Ron stared at the examiners, his lips trembling as if wanting to say something. After a while, he lowered his head and finally left.
Outside the door, one could faintly hear him crying.
This was Avalon, where the elites lived above the clouds, enjoying the sunlight. The commoners lived in the fog of downtown and could not even see the stars.
If the principal were still here, he might have gone easy on the commoner. But this time, the exam was controlled by the elites. There would be no possibility for vulgar and rancid bloodlines to enter the academy.
This was the place to foster the descendants of glory, not a farmer’s market.
53 Examined 2
The exam continued. The students that followed were all as the examiners had expected, and nothing was out of sorts.
After a long time, it was finally evening. Of the hundred or so students, more than half passed. With fifty-four students accepted, the exam was coming to an end.
But the name that Sydney was looking forward to had not been called until now.
“Banner Adrian.”
The door opened.
The thin blonde looked like he had not had a good night’s sleep. His face was pale and his eyes were sunk in, his expression neutral. Faced with the examiners, he nodded slightly and sat in front of the stone tablet.
Sydney jerked, wanting to say something, but Banner closed his eyes.
With his eyes closed, he murmured something.
The stone tablet shone with an unprecedented brightness!
—
Radiated by the silver light, the reflection in the tablet was no longer a blurry spot of light. Instead, it was an abstract design that looked like a beast.
In the image, the fierce beast had a leering smile and a general side profile. Seeing the blurry opening above its eye sockets, the examiners breathed heavily.
Sydney froze in shock. “This is the symbol of ‘Call of the Wild.’ Is he already an official level two musician?”
Ben stared at the tablet. After a while, he breathed out, “Probably not. The symbol is still too unclear. He should only be level one.”
“Then what about the scratch mark?” someone asked in a low voice. “He’s only seventeen years old. Has he started raising his own beast already?”
“Maybe an Adrian musician passed down their own beast to him. Don’t forget that the Adrian family has always been a representative of the School of Summoning.”
“That’s possible,” an examiner sighed. “Even if the manticore is gentle, it’s impressive to be able to control it at this young age.”
In the end, they all turned towards Sydney, who smiled in satisfaction.
“Very good, you did not disappoint us, Banner. Your brother will be proud of you too.” In a serious tone, Sydney proclaimed, “Congratulations. You have been accepted by the School of Summoning. This is the most elite school in the academy. It passes down the academy’s core knowledge and music. I hope you will continue to work hard.”
Banner stood and bowed, hand to his chest. His manners were impeccable.
Sydney and Ben glanced at each other and chuckled.
Mission accomplished.
“There is only one more student. Which family does he come from?”
The examiners studied the last name. “Is he even more important than the Adrian kid?”
“It’s just some kid from the East,” someone sighed. “No need to worry. The principal was just doing what was required.”
“That commoner?” one examiner remembered. “The one brought here by Mr. Bach?”
“Who knows?” Another shrugged. “We haven’t heard from Mr. Bach in years. The principal probably kept him to give us trouble.”
“Sirs, be honorable, please.” Sydney side-eyed them. “You are all professors of the academy, shouldering the responsibility of enrolling the new generation.”
The examiners stared blankly, before laughing. They nodded carelessly. Yes, they had to enroll the new generation. But that was all they had to do.
“Next, Ye Qingxuan.”
The door opened.
Everyone gaped.
—
When the youth entered the examination hall, everyone’s eyes bulged, and their mouth’s dropped to the floor.
These men were originally full of coldness—cold expressions, cold eyes, cold aura…as if they were ready to take all of that coldness and throw it at an unsuspecting kid to teach him a lesson.
But when they saw this guy, they could not even believe their own eyes.
What the heck?!
In the past hundreds of years, there had been low class and humble students who had entered the academy. There had also been arrogant ones, prodigies without a care for anyone else, and geniuses who took the test wearing prison garb and handcuffs.
But today…it was the first time someone came looking as if he had just been taken off of a surgery table.
In the center of the examination hall, the youth stood with a pale face and a body covered with bandages. The pungent smell of medicine radiated from him.
Leaning on a cane, his right leg and arm were held in a cast. Someone had drawn two turtles on the cast. His ten fingers were wrapped in gauze.
Other than his bare face, the rest of his body was pretty much a mummy.
He looked as if he had been run over by a few carriages, patched up on the spot, and sent here because he was still breathing!
Was he going to die during the exam?!
“…Student, you…are you okay?” Ben feared he would spit out blood and collapse then and there.
“Uh, I’m fine.” Ye Qingxuan squeezed out a smile and the muscles in his face quivered. “Sorry, a carriage ran into me yesterday, and I almost couldn’t make it. I arrived late too, but thankfully I didn’t miss the exam.”
He worked hard in gesturing as he talked, but his movements were too large and pulled on his wounds. Face twisting in pain, he manag
ed, “Please don’t worry. I’ve prepared enough.”
But the examiners looked uncomfortable. They had all prepared their sharp tongues and eyes, ready to pick out any of his flaws and put him in his place.
At least he had to understand what this place was. If he thought he had the principal’s support and dared to complain, then even better—he could be forced out for offending the examiner.
Or at the very least, they had to make him unnerved.
No one was going to tell this guy that he had to be calm and focused when sitting before the stone tablet. Otherwise, the results would be negatively affected. The elite children all took depressants before arriving to calm themselves down and not be distracted by the outside world.
But now that Ye Qingxuan was there, their poisonous tongues did not know where to start. All they could say was that sometimes, being full of flaws was like being flawless.
They could not do anything. His status was too sensitive. If something happened and he keeled over, he would hold something over the examiners.
That could not happen!
“That sly b*stard and this dirty boy…” Ben ground his teeth in frustration and sighed.
“Um…can we start?” Ye Qingxuan raised his hand, asking curiously. “What will the test be on? Do I need to play an instrument or sing?”
He coughed, getting ready to start warming up his vocal chords. Seeing that, Ben quickly cut him off, “Just sit there.”
“That’s it?”
Ye Qingxuan moved around on the chair, finding a comfortable position. “Is this okay? I feel like I’m being impolite. I can stand.”
“It’s okay. Just sit there and don’t move!” This talkative guy was driving Ben crazy. “Just sit there!”
“Oh.” Ye Qingxuan obeyed and sat down properly. A small circle of light lit up on the stone tablet.
Holding their breaths, the examiners waited and stared at the tablet. The dim light gradually brightened. Ben thought happily that as soon as the result came out, the principal’s joke would be over.
But under everyone’s careful eyes, the light unexpectedly…dimmed?
What the heck?
Ben rubbed his eyes in a daze and saw the light gradually brighten again. He quickly focused on the slowly moving light.
And then it dimmed again!
“…” Ben felt like he was going to spit out blood. Before he could utter a word, it lit up again and then dimmed again, just as expected!
The tablet’s design went between activating and resting for a whole ten minutes.
Light, no light, strong, weak…
As if playing with everyone’s eyes, this random light would sometimes flash quickly and then disappear just as quickly.
At times, it seemed that it would be complete soon. Then it would quickly change to another type of light. The examiners all felt that there was something in their throats that they could not spit out.
In the silence, Sydney heard a faint sound come from the stone tablet.
The sound grew in volume until it finally turned into loud snores!
The youth with his eyes closed had literally passed out on the chair. His limbs were relaxed and his mouth was open, a string of drool slipping out. His snores were loud and clear as his chest moved.
This mutt had dared to fall asleep! Asleep!
He fell asleep in this holy examination hall!
Sydney’s face grew red as a tomato. He shot to his feet, but heard someone beside him shout, “It lit up! It lit up!”
The shouts woke the youth up. In a daze, he turned around and saw the design on the tablet.
—
Under that dim light, the tablet had finally completed reading Ye Qingxuan’s data and displayed the analyzation image. But it was obvious that the design was missing something and no one knew what to make of it.
Something seemed to rotate in the fog, but it was too blurry and no one could see clearly. Crisscrossing, countless thin rays of light overlapped endlessly, interlocking into each other and finally creating a confusing picture.
It was a strange and squiggly line.
In the fog, the line changed every now and then. Vibrating randomly, it refused to stop. Sometimes, it shook like it had leprosy, other times, it was like a lazy bug, unmoving except for random spasms.
In the long silence, the only sound was that of jaws dropping.
“What…is this result?”
54 Examined 3
“What is this result?” Someone said quietly, “It looks like it didn’t display completely.”
“It didn’t finish analyzing. There are too many possibilities,” the one beside him muttered after pondering. “It must be the bandages and casts all over him that interfered with the tablet.”
“But there definitely is an image.” The examiner from the School of Revelation smoothed his beard. “It doesn’t look strong enough, but he seems to be very in tune with the aether.”
“Consistency is good too, but it’s not strong enough. The explosive force is too low.”
“So he’s not fit for the School of Modifications? Maybe he can practice hymns?”
“Don’t joke. Do we have a School of Chorale? And anyway, the hymnists of the School of Chorale must be trained since childhood. His voice won’t do.”
“His mind’s tenacity is very high.”
“He has high tenacity, but nothing matters if he’s not strong enough.”
The examiners discussed amongst each other in hushed voices. Through all this, the white-haired man, Abraham, stayed quiet, wordlessly studying the image on the tablet.
At times, his gaze would fall on the youth. Watching the youth’s confused eyes, his gaze would turn complicated and pitiful, as if he already saw the result.
In the end, the examiners seemed to come to a decision.
Ye Qingxuan had straightened by now, holding his breath as he waited.
This would decide if he could become a musician. He had almost given up on becoming a musician, but after that night, his hope had sparked again.
This would also decide whether or not he could enter the academy.
He did not know what had happened with his father, but Ye Qingxuan knew that he was innocent and could not have betrayed humanity, so he had to investigate and see what had really happened. The Royal Academy of Music was a good starting place. After all, it was where his father had worked.
Ye Qingxuan raised his head, looking up at the auditorium’s domed ceiling. The stained glass created a complicated puzzle. Perhaps his father had looked up at it too?
“Father, I’m coming,” he murmured softly.
In the silence, he heard Ben’s voice. “Ye Qingxuan, you’ve passed.”
But when he looked over, he was met with their cold and distant expressions. Ben
coughed, clearing his throat he said, “But the Royal Academy of Music might not suit you.”
Ye Qingxuan froze. He did not understand what was happening, but the unsettling feeling in him expanded.
“I…Didn’t I pass the test?”
Hearing this, the examiners exchanged glances. Some chuckled, shaking their heads.
Trying hard not to laugh, Ben coughed and put on a serious face. “Indeed, you passed both the written portion and the tablet’s test. But I fear that none of the Schools here are suitable for you.”
The examiners gazed at each other. The one from the School of Summoning shook his head and said, “Your tenacity is too weak and probably won’t be able to summon beasts. We don’t need students to drag us down.”
“You have high homology, but it isn’t stable enough. The School of Revelation isn’t suitable for you.”
A stern and expressionless examiner gazed at Ye Qingxuan and stated, “Your resonance isn’t enough to meet the School of Modification’s basic standards.”
“The School of Royalty requires at least ten years of training. You don’t qualify.” When the old man finished, he turned toward the veiled woman. “Perhaps you can
consider the School of Theory?”
The woman furrowed her brows behind her veil. She did not want to be part of this, but the men had clearly kicked the can to her. She did not care about the arguments between the elite schools and musician schools. She was just there to watch. If it had been like before, she would just take this kid to show some attitude…
Thinking of this, she glared at Ben, a little upset.
“Kid, you’re too late.” She shook her head. “The School of Theory is already full this year. Otherwise…”
“I understand.” The youth’s voice cut her off, stunning everyone present.
They had said so much, but Ye Qingxuan’s eyes never left Sydney’s face. This familiar face was serious, but could not hide the gloating and scorn.
Maybe…they’ve never planned on letting him pass.
Disappointment replaced the fury in his heart. The uselessness was exhausting.
He did not want to keep fighting. Maybe he really should follow the priest’s arrangements and study at the Trinity Theological College. At least there, no one would care whether this white-haired kid was a commoner or a descendant of a noble bloodline…
Thinking of noble bloodlines, he laughed lightly. Maybe he never should have returned to the city that had abandoned him.
“So be it,” he said softly, pushing himself up from the chair. “So be it.”
He did not want to say anything more and did not care what else Ben had to say.
Hobbling on his cane, he rose to leave. Ben could no longer control his expression and glared at the youth’s backside. “Rednecks are rednecks. They don’t even have basic manners.”
As if hearing the muttering behind his back, the youth suddenly halted outside the door.
Turning back, he stared at those faces. Under his eyes, the stern examiners furrowed their brows. It was uncomfortable to be stared at by those annoying and piercing eyes.
“I will become a musician.” Quietly, he said, “…I will become the best. I will.”
He shut the door.
—
The auditorium was silent as the examiners exchanged shocked glances, wondering if they had heard correctly.
“What did he just say? He’s out of his mind!”